(L-R): Lydie Polfer, Mayor of the City of Luxembourg; Carlo Thelen, Director, Chamber of Commerce; and Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of the Economy; Credit: Chambre de Commerce

Luxembourg was represented at the 29th MIPIM (International Market of Real Estate Professionals) event in Cannes - a meeting place for all professionals in the real estate market, with a national pavilion for the 13th time.

The main objective of Luxembourg's participation is to make known the opportunities offered by Luxembourg to foreign investors and to contribute to the promotion of the actors of the Luxembourg real estate sector.

Real estate professionals from around the world met last week for the traditional MIPIM event which celebrates its 30th anniversary next year. Once again this year, the show's success has not wavered with a high level of attendance, close to that of 2008. Luxembourg is present with 400 participants, visitors and exhibitors alike, 18 of which are officially co-exhibiting companies with the national pavilion organised by the Chamber of Commerce, namely: Agora, Arendt & Medernach, Campus Contern, Drees & Sommer, DSM, ICN, ING, Inowai, Luxembourg Immo, Lex Thielen & Associates, Order of Architects and Engineers (OAI), Socom, Somaco, City of Luxembourg, Willemen and 3 new exhibitors: Banque de Luxembourg, Dagli architecture studio and Lux-airport.

Wednesday 14 March  was the "Luxembourg Day", during which the Chamber of Commerce organised its official reception in front of more than 250 guests, in the presence of Etienne Schneider, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, and Lydie Polfer, mayor of the City of Luxembourg.

In his opening speech, Carlo Thelen, Director at the Chamber of Commerce, underlined the good health of the real estate market in Luxembourg in 2017. The symbolic bar of €1 billion of investments was crossed for the 4th consecutive year and should be maintained without too much difficulty at these levels in 2018. Contrary to speculation last year, the dynamism of the real estate market in 2017 is not only due to the effects of Brexit, but is rather related to the return of local investors from Luxembourg and neighbouring countries, as well as those of Northern Europe. The Chamber of Commerce, along with the House of Startups, made one of the six largest transactions that contributed to the healthy market. As a reminder, the House of Startups, a project initiated by the Chamber of Commerce, will open next month in the heart of Luxembourg-Gare with the ambition to host between 150 and 200 innovative startups from various sectors, Luxembourgish and foreign, in a complex of 5,700 m2. The Luxembourg-City Incubator, a joint initiative of the Ville de Luxembourg and the Chamber of Commerce, will be hosted on the site, as well as the Luxembourg House of Financial Technologies (LHoFT) and Nyuko.

The central theme of MIPIM this year is "Designing World Urbanism". What will urban life look like by 2030 or 2050? What are the best strategies to adopt to build the cities of tomorrow in a globalised world? So many questions that Luxembourg will have to answer with a population that should be around 760,000 people in 2030, according to Statec projections. According to Carlo Thelen, the country is already preparing for these challenges, notably by the gradual implementation of a new economic model, as defined at the end of the "Third Industrial Revolution" project, presented in 2016 aimed at build an interconnected and sustainable economy and society.

In her speech, Lydie Polfer also underlined the many challenges that the Grand Duchy, and more specifically the City of Luxembourg, have to face. The capital, which houses 20% of the population and accounts for 40% of national employment, has two priorities: to ensure the mobility of the 120,000 cross-border workers who go to Luxembourg each day to work, and create the housing needed for the growing population. In terms of infrastructure, the challenge is huge and, following the implementation of the tram, whose route should be extended to the Place de l'Etoile by June, is one of the solutions currently set up. The city is also the scene of several other major projects such as the "Royal Hamilius" and the Ban de Gasperich, whose work is well underway. The City must also provide the necessary school and sports facilities. Ms. Polfer concluded her speech by saying that the City of Luxembourg is itself a living startup.

Finally, Deputy PM Etienne Schneider took the floor to plead in favour of the Luxembourg economy. With a growth rate of between 4.4 and 4.8% and a surplus state budget, all the seers of the economy are green and that is why we must continue to invest in the Luxembourg economy and its real estate market. He advocated that "bankers lend more to real estate developers, who should in turn finance the architects and thus turn the economy." In this year of elections, where some parties call for "less growth," Minister Schneider is rather of the opinion that the economy must continue to grow, but in a sustainable manner, in line with what is suggested by the Rifkin study.​